Scatter Brained

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
The Man:
 along with fellow lush Ernest Hemingway, literary 
co-champion of the American Lost Generation. Unlike Heming-
way, had low tolerance and got drunk quickly. He married Zelda, 
a free-spirited schizophrenic who probably would have driven 
him to drink even if he hadn’t already been hooked.
His Work:
 
Th
  e Great Gatsby
. Several other novels, loads of 
short stories, and some embarrassing Hollywood hackwork
His Drink:
 champagne cocktail
His Death:
 of a heart attack, while eating a Hershey bar and 
listening to Beethoven. His funeral was sparsely attended, 
but Dorothy Parker reputedly showed up in inebriate solidar-
ity and cried, quoting the touching 
Gatsby
 line, “Th
 e poor son 
of a bitch.”